Two Halves
by SysyImi
Summary: It's a new year at Avira Boston Academy, and Yachiru's got a movie to make! The group of quirky new transfer students make for good eye candy; she's quick to recruit them, but one of the bunch rubs her the wrong way, and shortly afterwards everything seems to go downhill. The world as she knows it is changing, but is she strong enough to change with it? BACK IN ACTION!
1. Chapter 1

**This is a joint collaboration between me (SysyImi) and my sister (Chocomint3), who is also my Beta reader. =)  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Ouran High School nor any of the affiliated characters, etc.**

{~} Chapter One: In Which Yachiru Meets the "Hot," Rich, Exchange Students from Japan {~}

Yachiru stared out the window, her head resting in her hand as she let the teacher's introductory lecture float over her head. Lost in her thoughts, she watched the school grounds idly, scanning the familiar landscape for some form of inspiration for the start-of-year movie she was planning to make. Although the Movie Club wouldn't be able to meet in full until next week, Yachiru wanted to kick things off as soon as possible.

She sighed. None of her friends or club members were with her in first period. It didn't help matters that it was the least favorite subject she would have to take this year, world history, and the teacher was notorious for his extremely challenging exams and strictness.

"Excuse me, miss . . ." The teacher paused to consult his seating chart before continuing, "Yachiru? Yachiru Kusajishi? Pay attention, please." Yachiru turned and lifted her head, focusing on the front of the room as the teacher continued. "You should know that in order to survive in my class, you must actively participate and work hard. If you do not work hard or are not willing to work hard, then you do not belong in my class. I will not tolerate laziness of any sort. You have been warned." He nodded to himself and walked to his desk, putting down the seating chart and picking up a stack of green papers. "I will be passing back the class syllabus now. Put it in your binder and keep it there for the rest of the school year. Take one and pass it back, please."

Yachiru tapped the cover of her notebook impatiently as the papers were passed back. She was anxious for the lunch break, when she would be able to meet with her friends again. When Yachiru received the papers, she took a copy and passed the rest back automatically. The rest of the teacher's lecture blurred into the background again as Yachiru examined the green paper in front of her. She scanned it quickly, ignoring the repetitive elements from last year, and turned her attention back to the teacher in time to hear him announce,

"Homework is due the following day unless otherwise announced. Homework will also not be accepted late unless you are absent, with at least three day's prior notice. The only exception is if you are sick, in which case you will need a call from home or a doctor's note." Just then, the bell rang. Yachiru quickly folded the paper in half, shoving it into her bag. "You are dismissed."

The classroom was immediately filled with chatter and the scraping of chairs as people stood up, swinging backpacks onto their shoulders as they hurried out to their next class. Yachiru followed suit, sweeping her notebook off her desk before quickly exiting the room.

Students quickly amassed in the hallway, talking and greeting old friends as they walked to their next class and quickly compared schedules. Yachiru walked with the flow until she reached a bathroom. Quickly moving inside, she sighed in relief as the door shut behind her, muffling the crowd's chatter.

She moved away from the door, just in case, and pulled out her schedule to give it a once-over. Her next class was Photography II, room 33 on floor 3. She quickly folded it back up and stuffed it into her backpack before leaving the security of the bathroom.

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

In Photography II, the teacher passed back the usual permission slips and donation slips, as well as the class syllabus. She requested that they bring their cameras by the end of the week, and until then, they would be brainstorming ideas and reviewing concepts from Photography I and Art I. Although Art I was not a prerequisite as Photography I was, it was recommended for the extra knowledge and experience of other mediums that it provided. Yachiru hadn't wanted to wait an extra year before taking Photography II though, so she skipped Art I and just took Photography I in her freshman year.

The teacher gave them free reign for the rest of the period after asking them to bring back the permission and donation slips by the end of the week. Yachiru promptly took out her notebook and opened it, flipping through the colorful pages to a half-filled one. Small, neat handwriting took up most of the page, but some colorful ink drawings were crammed into the margins. She picked up her favorite calligraphy pen and proceeded to doodle a chibi picture of her dad posing in front of the cameras, his hair gelled into spikes and tipped with bells. As she continued to add in details, like a random window with a wonderful view of a tree, she listened idly to her classmates. The Photography I class had had some of the best gossip of all her freshman classes, and she expected this year's class to be much the same.

Next to her, a group of popular girls, probably upperclassmen, were talking avidly about some handsome exchange student from Japan. Avira Academy had never had exchange students before, and Yachiru, her curiosity piqued, decided to tune in.

"He's from Ouran Academy, you know!"

"From where?"

"Ouran Academy! It's only the most prestigious school in Japan for rich ladies and gentlemen!"

"Oh, I've heard of that place! I have a cousin who goes there!"

"A cousin? In Japan? Why haven't I heard of this before?"

"Well, he's not actually a blood relation, but I'm sure I've told you before, haven't I?"

"Even so, I had no idea your family was that rich."

"Eh, well it's not. I told you, he's not my blood relation."

"But anyway, what's his name?"

"My cousin? Or the exchange student?"

"The exchange student, of course!"

"Tamaki Suoh. He's so cute! Or . . . charming! Like a prince!"

"A prince, huh? That's so lucky!"

"And you have him in your first period?"

"Come on, tell us more!"

"Well, he's blonde . . ."

"Blonde? But I thought he was from Japan."

"Yes, well, I have no idea either. But he's so handsome I don't care! Apparently, he's not the only one either! My friend, Jesse- you know Jesse, right- she told me during passing period that he has four- or was it five- companions with him. And she says they're all hot . . ."

Yachiru tuned out the rest of the conversation as the girls continued to dote on their blonde Japanese Tamaki Suoh person and his "hot" companions and returned to doodling in her notebook.

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

The cafeteria was crowded as usual. The line stretched from the kitchen to almost outside the building. The round tables dotting the hall were all occupied, with extra seats drawn up in small circles for groups of friends who didn't have a table. The buzz of conversation filled the hall, the aromas of the different foods mixing together.

Yachiru stood to the side of the doorway, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. The cafeteria was the last place she had left to search for the other members of the movie club other than the clubroom itself.

Nearby, a group of raucous upperclassmen pushed their way into the cafeteria. They were laughing and speaking slightly accented English, but at one point they switched to Japanese before reverting back to English. Yachiru supposed that these were the rumored "hot," rich, exchange students from Japan. Looking at them, they were pretty attractive, she supposed. Two were obviously twins, although one had dark, ashy hair and the other auburn. They said something together, then threw back their heads and laughed in sync. It was a twin thing, probably. The tallest one turned and said something to them, waving an arm wildly and putting the other arm protectively around the girl standing next to him. The girl was short, with short brown hair. She flushed slightly and pushed away the tall boy, saying something that caused the twins to jump on her gleefully. Some kind of harem, maybe? But then again, harems only happened in shoujo manga . . . right?

Just then, the tall blonde boy glanced her way. Yachiru started in surprise and blinked, noting that his eyes were purple, a color almost as strange as her own dark pink ones. Looking away, she noticed that almost all the girls (and some boys) in the cafeteria were also staring at them. Did they have no decency? Although, the group seemed pretty used to it. For the most part, they were ignoring the stares, although as she watched, the blond boy walked up to her and produced a rose from nowhere, holding it out to her as he smiled charmingly and said,

"Well met today, Princess. I-"

"Thank you," Yachiru chirped, cutting him off as she smiled cheerfully and accepted the rose. "You're one of the new exchange students, aren't you? Tamaki Suoh, right?"

He nodded, looking a little disconcerted that she had interrupted him, but soon smiled again, as blindingly cheerful as before, and said, "Indeed! It appears that my superiority and charm has even reached as far as America! I am surprised that my excellence has spread so far and so quickly as the King of the Host Club!"

Yachiru tilted her head slightly, thoroughly confused, but she managed to keep her smile on her face as she introduced herself. "I'm Yachiru Kusajishi, sophomore and president of the Movie Club. Nice to meet you! Oh, and would you like to join the club? It's very fun, and we have lots of sweets!"

By then, the rest of Tamaki's assorted group had inched up behind him. One of the twins, with the dark ashy hair, said slyly, "You're a sophomore? I thought that you were a freshman. My bad."

Yachiru paused before turning her smile on him, although it had a kind of edge to it. "Oh, don't worry! Many people think that, so it's alright!" The twins looked rather surprised at her reply, and a little uneasy behind their sly smiles. Yachiru wasn't sure what they had expected- for her to get mad? It wasn't as if she really cared about what they said . . . .

The dark-haired twin recovered first and smiled. "I'm Hikaru Hitachiin, and this is my younger brother, Kaoru."

"We're juniors," Kaoru chimed in.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Yachiru responded cheerfully. Maybe they weren't as bad as they seemed, although they looked like the kind that liked to cause trouble.

The girl of the group stepped forward next and, also smiling, introduced herself. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka, also a junior. And over there"-she turned and gestured to the last member of the group, a dark-haired boy almost as tall as Tamaki that wore glasses-"is Kyouya Ootori, a senior." Upon hearing his name, the boy, Kyouya, looked over and nodded at her, pushing up his glasses with one hand.

"So..." Yachiru looked around at their faces, trying to remember their names. "Tamaki, Kaoru, Hikaru, Haruhi, and Kyouya? Tamaki, Kaoru, Hikaru, Haruhi, Kyouya. Tamaki, Kaoru, Hikaru, Haruhi, Kyouya. Tamaki . . . . Ok, I think I've got it!" The others watched her, contemplating her until the girl- Haruhi, Yachiru reminded herself- broke the silence.

"Your name sounds very Japanese, Yachiru. Are you Japanese?"

"I don't know," she replied truthfully, still beaming at them. "My dad is, though! He speaks Japanese to me all the time!"

"Oh, is that so?" Haruhi muttered in Japanese.

"Yup!"

"And your hair?" the twins asked in sync. "Did you dye it too?"

Although Yachiru wondered about the "too" part, she nodded and clarified for them, "It used to be white, but I didn't want silver hair like Shiro-chan, so I had my dad dye it pink for me! I love pink!"

The twins and Tamaki shared a look, but it was Haruhi who spoke up. "Shiro-chan?"

"Uh-huh, Shiro-chan! He doesn't like me calling him Shiro-chan though. He's very mean about that, and he never gives me candy. I'm sure Panda gives him plenty of candy, though."

"Panda . . . ?" Tamaki muttered.

Before Yachiru could continue, though, Kyouya interrupted, "What were you saying about a movie club?"

"Oh, yeah! It wasn't that popular last year, but the end-of-the-year movie was really popular! It was because of that that I was voted president of the club!"

"You're the president . . . of the movie club?"

"Yeah! If you want to join, I can get you in! We were always in need of actors and extra cameramen last year, since the club was rather small, but I'm sure if you joined, our club's movies would improve greatly in quality! Then more people would buy the movies! And then our popularity would skyrocket! It'd be a great success!" Yachiru could almost feel her enthusiasm getting to- or rubbing off on- the others. Tamaki was looking at her with stars in his eyes, and the twins shared a knowing glance.

"Of course we'll join!" Tamaki blubbered, his eyes brimming with tears. "I'd love to help you boost your movie club's popularity!"

"It'll keep us entertained, for sure," the twins said, beaming at her. "And Haruhi, you're going to join, too, right?"

"Heh?"

"Of course you will," the twins said, replying for her and nodding at each other.

"Wait, what? I don't have time to join the movie club- I need to study, and-" Haruhi began to protest, but the twins leaned over her and said together evilly,

"You had the time to join the Host Club. Why not join the Movie Club?"

"I- well, that was because-"

"You can come by later, after school, 'kay? It's in room 33, on floor three." She opened her backpack and pulled out a handful of fliers that she had made in preparation for circumstances such as these. She put one in Haruhi's hand and gave one to Tamaki before adding, "And feel free to invite other friends, even if they're not from this school. Just be sure to tell them to get visitor passes before entering the school, or the security guards will catch them and make them leave."

"Okay . . ." the twins said as they received their fliers from Yachiru. Just as she gave one to Kyouya, the bell rang, echoing through the busy cafeteria.

"Ah, lunch is already over? Minimum days sure are short . . ." Yachiru muttered to herself. "Anyway, we do meet today after school, so please be there! Thank you!" Stuffing the leftover fliers back into her backpack, she turned and exited the cafeteria.

Behind her, the members of the Ouran High School Host Club looked at the fliers in the hands, then at each other. Tamaki broke into a smile and shouted in Japanese, "Alright! This year we will help Yachiru-kohai with her Movie Club! Let's do our best, everyone!"

**I decided that Yachiru should use Japanese nicknames because I can not, CAN NOT, imagine her using the English dub's nicknames (ie, Whitey, 'specially 'cuz this sounds racist). And Honey/Hunny/Haninozuka Mitsukuni should come in by the next chapter, so wait for it! Read & review, please! Criticism, suggestions, and thoughts are welcome!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**For the record, they'll be speaking English unless otherwise stated. Also, **_italics_** means they're speaking Japanese. **Regular** = English.**

{~} Chapter Two: The First Meeting of the Year {~}

". . . Hello?"

"Hi, Honey here! Oh, is that you, Haru-chan? Do you need something?"

"Yeah. Are you and Mori-senpai busy right now?"

"Busy? . . . Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, well then, can you come over to the school right now? Tamaki-senpai wants to invite you to join the movie club here. He wants to help them increase their popularity, and since Renge's movie was such a big hit last year, he thought that having you guys over would help a lot. Or at least, that's what he said . . . ."

"The movie club? So, we're going to shoot a movie?"

"Yeah."

"Takashi, we're going to shoot a movie! It'll be lots of fun! Thanks, Haru-chan! See you there!"

"Wait, I haven't-"

-beep-

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

Haruhi closed her cellphone with a snap. The rest of the host club looked at her worriedly.

"Haruhi, how did it go?" Kyouya said.

"Honey said they could come," Haruhi reported.

"So, why are you looking worried?" Kaoru asked, leaning in to examine her face.

"Honey hung up before I could tell him the room number, so I guess I'll have to go show them the way."

"We'll come with you," Kaoru and Hikaru said together.

Almost immediately, Tamaki jumped protectively onto Haruhi. "Nooooooo- never! Evil twins, I will never let you near my Haruhi!"

"Stop it, Tamaki," Haruhi mumbled, flushing slightly as she slipped out of his embrace. "I am perfectly capable of going by myself."

"But, what if some bad student comes along and tries to mug you? Or if someone tries to beat you up? Or-"

"Tamaki, I'll be fine. You shouldn't worry so much. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai will be there, too, you know."

"I . . ." Tamaki looked down at her, and their eyes met. He sighed and pouted, "Fine." But when Haruhi began to walk away, Tamaki suddenly turned and leaped on her again, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Let me come with you, Haaaruuuhiiii . . . . Pleeeeaaase, Haruhi." When she looked up at him, she stiffened. He was giving her the Puppy Eyes.

She closed her eyes and turned away. "No is no, Tamaki. You are the host club's King, so you need to be there to greet Yachiru-chan."

"After all, you were the one who agreed to help her," the twins chimed in, each grabbing one of the King's arms. "Come now, Milord."

"Noooooooo . . . Haruhiiiiii . . ." Tamaki moaned, trailing off as he dropped into his depressed state. "Haruhiiiii . . ."

Haruhi walked around the corner and sighed. Tamaki would get over it eventually, but there was no way, absolutely no way, that she would allow him to come with her. Alone. Tamaki was just making a big fuss over nothing, as usual.

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

Yachiru arrived at the club's room almost immediately after the bell rang, as her seventh period, Digital Imaging, was right next door, in room 34. Their supervising teacher was Nanao Ise, who taught Photography I and II in room 33. The rest of the returning members trickled in over the next few minutes, greeted by Yachiru and a quick snapshot as Ms. Ise dug out the previous year's video-cameras and tripods.

When the returning members, officers, and some new recruits had arrived, Yachiru walked to the front of the room to stand in front of the white board. She picked up a red marker and wrote in big letters "The Movie Club Starts Today".

"Alright, people! The Movie Club starts today! I hope you have all returned with ideas for our start-of-the-year movie! In case you don't know, I am your new president, Yachiru Kusajishi! It's a pleasure to meet you! All new members, go to Vice President Nemu Kurotsuchi to sign up! Don't forget to put down your grade and cell phone number! Thank you~! Oh, and recently I have recruited the new exchange students from Japan! I hope that everyone will work hard this year!"

Immediately, the room was filled with a soft parody of the buzzing of chatter as the new members- who numbered a pitiful four- crowded around Nemu to sign up. The returning members swamped Yachiru, all clamoring to know just how and when she had gotten them to sign up.

Yachiru twitched as the members began to crowd her. She had been in crowded supermarkets and such, but this was a completely different feeling. She had never experienced something like this before. It was almost scary, even though there were barely ten students trying to crowd her.

"Alright everyone, back up! I will answer questions later! Please write down your idea on a piece of paper and hand it in to me! We will vote on the ideas later!" Just then, the door opened. A very depressed Tamaki, supported by the Hikaru and Kaoru and followed by Kyouya, stood in the doorway. The crowd around her froze, all of their attention drawn by the exchange students.

As soon as they saw the situation in the club, the twins dropped Tamaki (who stumbled into a corner to crouch in the picture of depression) and greeted the club loudly from the doorway. "Hello! We are the exchange students from Japan! How do you do?" They bowed together, smiling charmingly as Kyouya stepped between them to approach Tamaki.

"Tamaki, pull yourself together. You cannot forget that you are still the King of the Ouran High School Host Club, and that you are the one who accepted this offer. It is of utmost importance for you to regain your composure and greet these ladies as a Host, or our reputation will be sullied."

Tamaki turned around and looked teary-eyed at Kyouya. "Is that all you care about? Our reputation? When Haruhi just . . . Haruhi just . . ." He burst into tears. "She just rejected me! Kyouya, you're so cruel, not even thinking about the pain I'm currently in! My heart is broken, Kyouya! Broken!"

"Very well then." Kyouya turned to face a very confused Yachiru. "I apologize for our king's behavior. I am Kyouya Ootori, senior, and by Tamaki's orders we have come here to offer our service to this club."

Yachiru smiled. "I see! Thank you for coming! You can sign up over there, by Nemu! Oh, by the way, where's Haruhi?"

The twins, who had been halfway to Nemu's desk, turned and said cheerfully, "She went to get Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai. Alone." Yachiru could almost feel Tamaki's distress deepen tangibly from his corner.

"Oh, is that so?" Yachiru asked. "I'm glad you took the time to invite other people to the club! Well, if you have any questions, be sure to ask me! Then, I'll continue the meeting as soon as Haruhi and your senpai's arrive."

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

"I'm so sorry, Haru-chan! I caused you trouble, didn't I? Because I hung up before you could tell me the room number!" Honey blubbered, near tears as he cried into Mori's back.

Haruhi, who was leading, turned and smiled reassuringly. "It's alright, Honey. It's not really much of an inconvenience." She turned back to the door she had stopped in front of. "Room thirty-three. I think this is it." Opening the door, the three were immediately greeted by a short pink-haired girl.

"Welcome to the Movie Club! Oh, it's Haruhi and the senpai's." She looked up at Honey, who was hanging off of Mori's back, and smiled, unperturbed. "Seems like I can start the meeting now! Come in, come in." She ushered them in before bouncing to the front of the room, the door shutting by itself with a click. The board read "The Movie Club Starts Today" in big, bubbly red letters. The girl printed underneath it "Meet the Exchange Students From Japan" in black. The gathered members quickly quieted down to sit in various chairs and on desk tops as they turned their attention to the short, red-eyed girl.

"As I've said before, I'm Yachiru Kusajishi, sophomore and the president of the Movie Club! I hope to raise the popularity and revenue of the Movie Club this year! Let's all work together happily!"

A tall girl with dark black hair plaited to the side stood up. She hugged a clipboard to her chest, reminding Honey of Takashi, and announced, "I am Nemu Kurotsuchi, junior and vice president of the Movie Club. Our supervising teacher is Ms. Ise, the Photography I and II teacher, but she is not here right now."

"I hope you've all written down your ideas on paper! If not, then just raise your hand and shout it out! We'll be voting on the topic for our start-of-the-year movie starting now!" Yachiru smiled as several tentative hands rose. "Yes, Momo?"

Momo was a petite girl with brown hair tied up in a bun. She stood up in the middle of the crowd and quietly proposed her idea. "I was thinking we could do a romantic comedy. Those always seem to be very popular."

"That would work! Anything more specific, Momo?" Yachiru asked as she turned to write it on the board.

"Not really, sorry." Momo replied, and sat down.

"That's okay. Anyone else? Yes, Hanataro!"

A small boy hunched at the back of the room jumped in surprise. "Eh? I wasn't-"

"Are you sure?" Yachiru smiled expectantly at him.

"Y-yeah . . . Sorry . . ." The boy, Hanataro, looked away, seemingly in cold sweat.

"Oh well then, that's okay. Ah, exchange students! Do you have any ideas?" Yachiru turned to the back, where the Host Club stood huddled in a mass as they watched silently. When Yachiru looked at them, the twins elbowed Tamaki and said,

"Tono, she's asking you for ideas." When he didn't respond, they leaned in and said, "After all, you are the Host Club's king." Tamaki moaned but otherwise didn't say anything, so the twins turned to Haruhi and asked her cheerfully, "Hey, Haruhi, are you thinking of something?"

"Huh? Me?" Haruhi looked at them, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, since Tono is like this because of you . . ." Kaoru started.

"You should at least take some responsibility and fill in for him, right?" Hikaru finished, both of the twins slipping around Tamaki to put their arms around Haruhi's shoulders.

"Yes, well . . ." Haruhi looked exasperatedly to the side.

"I have an idea!" Honey chirped. "We can do something like Renge's movie! That was a big hit, right?"

"Renge's movie?" Yachiru echoed. "If it's something someone already did, it might not be so . . . so . . . original, you know?"

"You mean . . . we can't?" Honey asked, tears already welling up in his eyes. Mori half-turned and set Honey down gently. "We really can't?" He actually looked like he was going to cry, Yachiru noted. Abruptly, she dropped her smile.

"You're going to cry because you can't get what you want? How old are you, anyway?" she snapped. To her surprise, the boy really burst into tears and turned to hug the tall, stiff boy next to him.

"Takashi, Takashi! She's so mean to me!"

Haruhi frowned and stepped forward to stand next to Tamaki, who seemed to perk up at her proximity. "Why are you shouting at Honey? He didn't do anything to justify you shouting at him."

Yachiru's eyes widened slightly. She turned away and scowled fiercely. One could almost see a menacing, dark pink aura around her. "I _hate_ people who are weak."

"President . . ." Nemu muttered. "Should I take over for today?"

"Eh?" Yachiru turned to Nemu, then smiled brightly. The tense atmosphere dissolved almost immediately. "No, it's fine. Thanks for the offer, though, Nemu. Well, are there any other ideas for the movie?" She stared expectantly at the silent audience, noting that the Host Club looked more or less dumbfounded. "Oh, well . . . I guess we'll be making a romantic comedy then!"

". . . wait, what? What about the ones written on paper?" An orange-haired kid stood up. "You can't just . . ."

He seemed at a loss for words, so Yachiru said, "Oh, then turn those in to Nemu and we'll look over them." There was a general shuffle as students stood up and more or less crowded around the vice-president to hand in their ideas.

In the back, Tamaki muttered in Japanese, "_She's almost as scary as Honey-senpai._"

Honey looked at him, wide-eyed, and asked, "_What do you mean, Tama-chan?_"

"_Ah, uh, well-_"

"_Do you think we should talk to her? It wouldn't be good if we're on her bad side_," Haruhi said.

"_Are you volunteering, Haruhi?_" Hikaru asked.

"_Eh? No, not really. I was actually thinking Mori-senpai or Kouya-senpai should go and talk to her about it . . ._"

"_Why Kyouya-senpai?_" Kaoru asked.

"_He's good at talking, so I was thinking he could sort things out . . ."_

"_I think we should just leave it be. She seems to have dropped it, so I think we should too . . ."_ Kyouya muttered.

The other members of the Host Club shared a look. _"Yeah . . . ."_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Some things might be off since I haven't touched either Bleach or OHSHC in... a year, I guess. . Sorry...  
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{~} Chapter Three: After School, and The Next Day- A Sudden Proposal? {~}

"Dad, I'm home!" Yachiru shut the front door with a click, locking it automatically as she took in the resounding silence. He wasn't home, as usual. She had arrived home by bus, the five-thirty one, as she always did. If she ever missed the five-thirty bus, there was the six o'clock bus the next stop down. But she never missed the five-thirty one, so she never got lost.

Her dad, she knew, always came home at seven, on the six-forty-five bus from downtown. If he was late, it was either seven-thirty or eight o'clock, and by taxi. By then, Yachiru would be done with her homework, as well as her after-school and pre-dinner snacks. She would eat at seven, or seven-thirty, or eight, depending on when he returned, and then spar a bit with him. They would talk about their days, how her club was going, how his modeling was going, and at ten, she would go to sleep.

She sighed, and stared up at the sunlight-latticed ceiling. The golden rays shone from the two floor-length windows that framed the door, their cream curtains almost perpetually drawn aside. The chandelier seemed a little lower than usual, all of its glittering crystals winking in the sunlight.

The days really were getting shorter, Yachiru thought. She stared at the chandelier for a while, half hoping that it might give her an idea for the movie, before she roughly shook herself out of her reverie, reminding herself of the upcoming homework she had to finish.

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

Just as she had expected, her dad returned at seven with dinner. She was out of her room and at the door waiting as soon as she heard the key turn in the lock. Immediately after he entered, Yachiru pounced, shouting ecstatically, "Ken-chan!" He blocked her kick almost lazily, a simple flick of his hand almost breaking her balance. He held a cloth bag in his other hand, the shapes of various boxes molding the cloth.

"_How was your day, Yachiru_?" Kenpachi asked in Japanese as he casually shut the door and locked it.

"_I recruited ten new members today! And seven of them are from Japan!"_Yachiru replied happily.

"_Seven? Out of ten?"_

"_Yup!"_

"_Transfer students."_

"_Yup!" _Yachiru briefly wondered if she should tell him about her disagreement with that senpai's immaturity, but decided against it.

" _. . . Good job, Yachiru."_Kenpachi reached over and patted her on the head, then handed her the cloth bag. Yachiru beamed. Switching to English, he waved in the direction of the dining room and said offhandedly,"Bring those to the table."

"_Yessir!"_ Swinging the bag around, she skipped into the room to set the bag on the table. "_Say, did you have your photo shoot with Panda-chan today? He's not sick today, right?"_

"_Eh, you mean Juushiro? Nah, he's perfectly fine today. Said that Retsu-san let him off yesterday on the condition to take it easy, so he wouldn't spar with me. Bah, what a spoilsport." _Kenpachi began to set the table, moving the bag to the kitchen counter as he pulled dishes from the dishwasher.

Yachiru grabbed some utensils from their drawer and bounced back to the table."_Did he bring any candy for me?"_

"_Dunno."_

"_Then, did you meet Shiro-chan at work today?"_

Kenpachi looked up at her momentarily before returning to doling out the food. "_Shiro . . . ? Who the. . . oh, you mean the kid. No, he didn't show, but near the end of Juushiro's first shoot, Retsu came in with that scrawny classmate of yours, the pansy."_

"_Ken-chan, Hanataro's not a pansy! And is Panda-chan sick again?"_

"_No, he's not. And the pansy's a pansy if I say he is. Got it?"_

"_But, Ken-chan . . ." _Yachiru whined, pouting as she crawled up to kneel in her chair, propping her elbows on the table to watch as he served her portion. "_He's not a pansy! It's 'cause of him that our movie won first place!"_

"_Huh, whatever."_Her guardian handed her her plate and spoon. It was as close an acknowledgement would ever get from him, so Yachiru accepted her plate and prepared to dig in.

"_Itadakimasu!"_

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

Yachiru looked out at the gathered club members. The Japanese transfer students and their friends were sitting in the back in one big group, with Haruhi in the middle. The other four new members were clustered in the very front, probably a freshman group of friends. The rest of the members were returning members, and many were ones that Yachiru could recall from last year, such as Rukia Kuchiki (sophomore) and Ichigo Kurosaki (sophomore) in the front row, the latter very ostentatious with his shock of orange hair; Momo Hinamori (sophomore) in the second row, talking avidly with Renji Abarai (junior), also very noticeable with his spiked, scarlet hair; and Hanataro Yamada (sophomore) in the last row, hunched in the back and overshadowed by the foreigners.

The soft buzz of chatter was occasionally punctuated by laughter and the soft ring of a cellphone. Nemu's marker squeaked as she wrote on the white board, her neat handwriting quickly filling up the blank space as she drew in the score sheet for their poll on movie genres. Ayasegawa Yumechika (senior), activities coordinator of the club, sat at a side table talking quietly with Ikkaku Madarame (senior), the treasurer of the club, with Toshiro Hitsugaya (junior), the secretary, and Ms. Ise, the club advisor, looking on.

"President. You may begin the club session." Yachiru glanced over at Nemu and smiled her thanks before turning to the members in general to begin.

"Quiet down, everyone! Yesterday, Nemu looked over the votes, and the winner is . . . a comical, romantic, action-adventure movie! Since the votes for a comedy, a romance, and an action-adventure were equal, we have decided to do all three!" There was a smattering of applause from the audience before she continued.

"So, today we have decided to start collecting ideas for our movie! Are there any suggestions?" A few hands went up, including Haruhi's (being held up by Kaoru). "Yes, Haruhi?"

"Eh? Wha-?"

"How about a harem? With Haruhi at the center?" suggested Kaoru, talking over Haruhi.

"I don't-" Haruhi started, but was cut off again by Hikaru.

"Right, right. I second it!"

Yachiru blinked. "A reverse harem?" She turned to Toshiro, a smile growing on her face as she took to the idea. "Shiro-chan, write it down!"

"I told you not to call me that!" The white-haired junior exclaimed, glancing at her reproachfully before selecting a marker and stalking up to the board to write the words 'REVERSE HAREM' in big, jagged script.

While he wrote, Yachiru wondered why more people hadn't come to join the club; Toshiro and quite a few other members were very popular in the school, and being in last year's movie had only boosted their popularity. Them being here should have provided incentive for the fan girls and, in some cases, boys, to join.

But then again, she had started the club extremely early, on the first day of school. Most clubs didn't start until the second week of school, after all. It was very likely that news just hadn't gotten around yet. But once it did, it would become troublesome to root out the fan girls and guys. She would have to bring that issue up with the other officers later.

Turning back to the issue at hand, she scanned the crowd again and idly called out, "Anything else? Just shout stuff out, don't worry about raising your hand!"

There was a brief silence before Renji objected: "I don't like the idea of a reverse harem; it doesn't allow many girl parts and anyway, we get too much of that in anime and manga already."

"Then, do you have a suggestion?"

"Eh . . . how about a, um, typical 'rescue' thing? Like, a person gets captured and everyone else has to go save them."

"Ok! Write it down, Shiro-chan!"

". . . You don't have to tell me, I know. And I said, don't call me that!" Yachiru simply smiled brightly at him. Sighing in frustration, Toshiro wrote down the idea, muttering, "No one ever listens to me . . . . "

"So- anyone else?" There was another silence. Yachiru looked around expectantly, reminding them, "Remember, a comical, romantic, action-adventure movie!"

Finally, Rukia spoke up. "How about . . . something with a car crash?"

"A car crash?" Yachiru bit her lip, thinking. Finally, she beamed. "Alright! Shiro-"

"I got it already!" the junior snapped. And indeed, the words CAR CRASH were already listed on the board.

"Anyone else?" Yachiru asked, absently picking up a marker from the whiteboard tray. She uncapped it and stuck the cap on the back of the marker. When no one else spoke, she turned to the board. "Okay then- time to vote!"

A cry of dissent came up from the audience, mostly from Renji and Ichigo.

"Wait- we only have three ideas on the board!" the redhead shouted.

"Yeah! Is it really that important that we need to choose right now?" Ichigo added.

Yachiru cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Well . . ."

Then, unexpectedly, one of the transfer students began to speak. "For a movie to be successful, you need three things." Yachiru frowned. His name was . . . Kyouya, right? "Plot, suspense, and attraction." Most of the audience twisted around to watch the bespectacled transfer student speak. To his credit, he didn't seem fazed at all, and continued to explain.

"Suspense and plot come as one. For the plot to be riveting, there must be suspense. For the suspense to be realistic, there must be plot. And for a proper plot to be chosen, ample time and thought must be invested towards it."

His words were followed by an almost tense silence as the audience turned back to see what their club prez would say to that.

Yachiru tilted her head, thinking. In the back, Tamaki shouted, "_Spoken like a true treasurer of the Host Club! Good going, Kyouya!_"

Yachiru had to admit, his argument made sense. Besides, it was only the second day of school. Even though she was so eager to get started, waiting a little longer would probably be prudent, after all.

Finally, Yachiru nodded, smiling widely, "That's a good argument! Well then, we need more ideas! We have the rest of the afternoon! If you have any ideas, please tell them to Shiro-chan!"

The returning club members stood and began to stretch, the four new members eventually following their lead. Slowly, the soft babble of conversation spread throughout the room.

Yachiru bounced her way around desks and groups of people to approach the back. Hanataro seemed at once overwhelmed and nervous at being so close to the ebullient transfer students, who seemed to be arguing about the plot of the upcoming movie.

"We should do something with a haunted house!" one of the twins was saying.

"You already suggested a reverse harem. Now you're going on about a haunted house?" Haruhi asked, exasperated.

"We could do both!" the twins said, beaming at her.

"Of course, I get to be the hero to save Haruhi!" their leader, Tamaki, declared.

"But I want to be the hero, too!" Honey pouted. Yachiru did her best to ignore him; she hadn't come back here to repeat yesterday all over again. "It'd be so cool to save Haru-chan!"

The seven exchange students paused slightly in their conversation as Yachiru passed them. She beamed but didn't say anything, bounding past them to approach Hanataro instead.

"Hana-chan!" she cried. The small boy jumped and literally leaped out of his chair to press himself against the wall.

"Y-yes, C-club president!"

Yachiru beamed at him. "Hana-chan, do you have any ideas for the movie?"

The dark-haired boy blinked, looking away nervously. "Ah, um-"

"You did really well last year, so I was hoping you could help out more this time! With you and the transfers here, we'll definitely make this year into a success!"

"Er," Hanataro spluttered. "S-sorry, I don't have anything yet."

Yachiru pouted and leaped up to crouch on the chair Hanataro had vacated, much like a pink cat- or in Yachiru's case, a kitty. "Ne, last night Ken-chan told me you were with Re-chan! Did you get to see Ken-chan's shoot?"

The boy blinked. "Eh? Kenpachi's photo shoot?" He shook his head and relaxed slightly, glad that the subject had been changed. "I saw the end of Ukitake's, though. Doctor Unohana brought me along to check on him."

"Hm? You met Ukki, then? Did he have any candy?" Yachiru asked, smiling expectantly at him.

"Ah, w-well, he was in the middle of his photo shoot, s-so he didn't have anything with him at the time," the dark-haired boy muttered, eyes glancing away once again.

Yachiru pouted. "Aw . . . Ken-chan didn't have anything for me last night, either." She stood up on the chair and smiled again. "Tell me if you come up with anything for the movie, 'kay?"

"Y-yeah." The boy shifted slightly, gaze dropping to the floor.

"See ya, Hana-chan!" Yachiru leapt off the chair to skip past the transfer students, whom had, by the sound of their conversation, been eavesdropping.

"Photo shoot? Like, with models?" Haruhi was saying, a concerned expression on her face.

"Ah, poor, poor Haruhi. Doesn't even know what a photo shoot is. Truly the epitome of the poverty-stricken!" Tamaki said flamboyantly. Then he wrapped his arms around the slightly annoyed Haruhi, saying, "But I don't mind! That just makes you cuter!"

"Get off me!" Haruhi cried, face flushing. She tried to pry his arms from around her, but froze when Yachiru skipped over.

"Hi! You look like you're having fun! Do you have candy?" the club president asked immediately.

"Eh- candy?" Haruhi asked, blinking. Tamaki beamed.

"Just ask Honey!" When the boy looked up at him, petulance in every line of his face, the host club's king added in Japanese, "_It's to make up for yesterday. It would be a good way to apologize, right?_"

"_But, it's my candy. I don't want to share it with her! She's mean!_" Yachiru tried to stop herself from glaring. Then she tried to recall why she was pretending to not understand them. Didn't she tell them about Ken-chan and Japanese yesterday?

She blurted out, "If you don't want to share, I'll fight you for it!" Violence was always the answer, she remembered Ken-chan teaching her.

The seven transfer students immediately turned to stare at her. Behind her, there was a mass movement as the rest of the club reacted to her outburst, turning to see what was going on.

Finally, Haruhi said, "A fight? Isn't that going a little too far?"

Yachiru twitched. "Of course not! Candy deserves to be fought over! And if you don't want to fight, then you can ask someone else to fight for you! If you lose, I get all of your candy!"

"Wha- No! That's not fair! You can't just take my candy! It's _my_candy!" the blonde cried.

Yachiru grinned boldly. "That's why we're fighting for it! Come on, it'll be fun!" Silently, she hoped he would agree to fight. She wanted to know if he really was as weak as he seemed.

There was a pause while the senpai pouted, thinking it over. Surprisingly, none of his friends stepped forward or offered to take his place. Maybe he really was strong, and they knew he could handle her. Or maybe she was being too desperate for a good fight, and was over-thinking things.

"Fine, then," the boy finally said. "Where and when?"

Yachiru felt her grin widen, if possible. "Now! And here! Free-for-all, no weapons barred! Winner takes all!"

"Alright, but I won't go easy on you," the transfer student muttered, glaring at her.

Yachiru punched the air in victory. "You'd better be really strong! I haven't had a good fight since Shiro-chan stopped sparring with me!"

From across the room, Toshiro shouted, "DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Wait- you're going to fight here?" Rukia asked skeptically.

"Yeah! If we move all the desks aside we'll have enough room to spar!" Yachiru said, beaming.

"But what about the rest of us? We won't have room to stand!" Ichigo shouted.

"You can sit on the desks or something!" Yachiru replied.

"I think we should videotape this," Renji announced. When the rest of the room turned their eyes on him, he backtracked, raising his hands and explaining, "It's been a while since I've seen Yachiru spar. It's bound to be pretty interesting if she's this excited, right?"

Ichigo and Rukia nodded to themselves. Momo asked, voice soft, "Are you sure it's alright, though? Having them spar in the classroom is against the rules, isn't it?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Momo," Toshiro said gruffly from the front of the room. "If Ms. Ise agrees to it, then we can pass this off as a probable scene for our film."

The class turned to look at Ms. Ise, who looked up from her paperwork. "Hm? It's fine, as long as you keep it safe, Yachiru."

"Yes! Thank you, Ise!" Yachiru cried, racing over to give their supervising teacher a hug.

The class quickly set about pushing aside the desks, the returning crew helping Ms. Ise set up the cameras.

Yachiru quickly asked permission to go to her locker, which Ms. Ise agreed to, and dashed out the door. The Host Club members watched her go as Honey stretched and began to warm up.

"I'm back! Are you ready to start?" Yachiru cried upon returning, waving a pink-hilted katana in a purple sheath.

Indeed, the class was about set, the desks all pushed aside and the students perched on top. Honey was waiting in the center of the circle with a staff in his hands. Yachiru briefly wondered where he had gotten that from before hopping over the nearest desk to join him in the ring.

"W-we're ready," Hanataro stuttered from the nearest camera.

"Alright! Let's get this started!" Yachiru all but crowed, flinging her arms- and her katana- out wide.

"Watch it!" Renji snapped as the tip of her sheath just missed hitting the desk the redhead was perched on.

"I'm ready too," Honey said, taking a stance with his staff.

"We'll start in three . . . two . . ." Ise counted, leaving off the "one." The red lights on the cameras set about the room blinked on simultaneously, and the fight began.


	4. Chapter 4

**We are back! After another... extremely long... ahem.**

**[WE'RE BACK AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS (~RIGHT?)! ~Chocomint3]  
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**Special thanks to Lily Nozuka, Silver Shihouin, Ichigo123 (Guest), risa (Guest), KandyMiraj, Szayel's Angel, and especially Silver Shihouin, for rekindling our fire for this story!**

**[We actually have a bunch of arcs planned out now, so expect faster (than hiatus-paced) updates! XD ~Chocomint3]  
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**Thanks also to everyone who favorited and/or alerted this story!**

**Happy reading and welcome to February!**

**- Sysyimi  
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{~} Chapter Three: The Battle for Candy! Please Don't! {~}

The red light winked on, and silence enveloped the room. In the center of the circle, Yachiru stood in a very relaxed position, a bright grin on her face, holding her katana by a string at her side. Directly opposite her, Honey had taken a proper stance, a determined glint in his eye and his staff held out at the ready.

The two eyed each other, Honey carefully and Yachiru expectantly. A heavy silence blanketed the room, broken occasionally by the scratch of cloth as the watching students rearranged themselves. Yachiru bounced on the balls of her feet and waited, grin unfaltering. Someone coughed. Finally, Honey said, "If you won't strike first, then I will!"

He dashed forward with surprising speed, swinging the staff around at her face. Yachiru ducked smoothly and brought her sheathed katana up to block his rapid second strike.

"You're not bad!" she said, smiling widely as she jumped backwards to avoid his third strike, an overhead swing. Her katana swung backwards and clanged as it hit a desk leg. Honey came forward relentlessly, cutting towards her right. Instead of blocking, Yachiru jumped to the side and rolled, gauging the distance carefully so she wouldn't come up hitting a desk. She twisted in time to bring her sword up to block Honey's fifth strike.

His eyes narrowed as she stood, pushing him into a deadlock. He twisted away to disengage and backed off. Was she hoping to frustrate him by fighting passively? Well, it was impressive that she could actually pull it off. He smirked. She was fast, he could admit. But he could be faster.

He dashed forward, aiming for her hand. Crossing such a small space in such a short amount of time. . . . His smile widened. There was no way she could dodge _this_.

A resounding crack sounded through the air. Honey's eyes widened for a fraction of a second as his staff slid off her sword. Then she was gone, slipping past him and bounding away. She'd parried! He recovered quickly and swung around, danger trailing shivers up his spine.

Crack! He caught her downswing just in time. She was still wearing that smile- no, not anymore. As he watched, her eyes narrowed and her smile slipped just a bit. He shifted his weight, drawing his staff with him and dashing past her in the same move she had just used against him. She stumbled forward, her back completely open. "Hah!" he thought, and swung.

She spun, only for him to duck under her haphazard counter. His staff darted out, smacking her hand. The katana spun through the air to clatter against the far wall amid yelps from the students.

Yachiru leaped away, but in the opposite direction of her sword. She waved a hand in front of the nearest camera. "Cut."

"Is there a problem, President?" Nemu, who was manning one of the cameras, asked. Honey noticed that despite her question, the red light had winked off. The lights of the other cameras doused themselves as well.

Almost immediately after Nemu's question, there was a bang. Honey twisted around to see an out-of-breath student at the door, one hand braced against the doorframe as he regained his composure. When he straightened, he gasped out, "Um, is Yachiru Kusajishi here?"

"That's me!" Yachiru said happily, bouncing up to stand on the desk and wave her hand.

The boy swallowed nervously. "Uh, well, someone- your guardian- uh, he wants you to-"

"Get out of the way, kid," a low voice growled. A large hand reached out and jerked the boy roughly away from the doorframe. Ignoring the boy's cry, the man ducked under the doorframe and stomped his way into the room.

Honey could do nothing but gape. The man was large and quite obviously muscled. A scary-looking scar stretched down and under an eyepatch. His long black hair had been gelled into spikes, each one tipped with a jingling bell. He wore a haori and geta, with a katana at his side. Honey couldn't help but wonder what sort of school was this, that just let large, suspicious-looking men with weapons in to search for a student, under the guise of being her guardian.

The suspicious man, however, didn't seem to faze the students at all. In fact, although the nearest students shifted away as far as possible, none of them were shouting about terrorists or armed infiltrators.

The timid kid that Yachiru seemed to like picking on even scrambled off his desk to approach the large man, hands out nervously. "Um, is something wrong, Mister Kenpachi?"

"Yes! Unohana needs you, _Pansy_, so get going!" he roared. "Now!"

"Um, yessir!" the boy stammered, jumping slightly. He scurried out past Mister Kenpachi, snatching his bag from under a desk as he passed.

Yachiru hopped off the table. "Ken-chan, don't call Hana-chan a pansy!" Wait, she was going to talk back to this man? Although, something urgent did seem to be transpiring. . . . Honey lowered his staff, watching as closely as it was unobtrusively possible.

"Now's not the time for that," Kenpachi growled as he scanned the crowd again. "Is the kid here too?"

"Is it Panda-chan again?" Yachiru asked, voice surprisingly muted. Kenpachi ignored her, his eyes falling on the club secretary, the short, white-haired junior.

"Hitsugaya! You need to fill in for Ukitake!" the man growled.

"What? Now?" the boy asked, surprised.

"Yes! They need a model for the Thirteen magazine. The set time was twelve; Ukitake couldn't make it, so they're in a pinch."

"Why can't you do it, Kenpachi?" Toshiro snapped. "I'm at school right now!"

The bells in his hair jingled as the older man shifted irately. Playing the 'school' card- or what Kenpachi had concluded from it- clearly did not sit well with him. Giving Toshiro the evil eye, Kenpachi barked, "Hurry up and go; you'll be paid extra for it! And keep your phone on!"

Toshiro stood staring defiantly at him for a while longer before turning away and stalking over to his bag, muttering quietly, "Whipped."

As the junior swept out of the room, Kenpachi's eyes fell on the red-haired upperclassman, Renji. He strode over quickly and motioned for the boy to move aside. Leaning over, he plucked Yachiru's katana from the floor. Before he could say anything to Yachiru though, she bounced up to him and tugged his arm.

"Ne, Ken-chan. Is Panda-chan going to be okay?"

"Unohana's taking care of him. Of course he'll be fine. Now, what's your practice practice sword doing over here? You should take better care of things."

"Oh, well, we were doing a scene for our movie," Yachiru said brightly, motioning to the cameras set around the room.

Kenpachi turned to glower at Honey. "This scraggly group is going to make a movie? Don't make me laugh."

"It's only the third day of school, so not everyone's here yet." Yachiru was unfazed.

"Fine. Whatever. Just make sure you don't mess the school up again." He turned to leave.

"'Kay!" He was halfway to the door when Yachiru latched onto his arm again. "Ne, Ken-chan, will you be home earlier today?"

Kenpachi stiffened. "Hmph. Get back to work, Yachiru."

She dropped his arm and smiled, but something in her expression hinted at disappointment. "Bye-bye, Ken-chan."

The door shut loudly behind him. Barely muted, Kenpachi's voice floated through the thin walls, thundering, "What are you still doing here, Toshiro? Get going!" After a moment, Kenpachi snapped, "It's none of your business, _gaki_." (TRANSLATION: brat/kid/child, generally derogatory term.)

Honey winced and made his way over to Morinozuki. "That man's scary, Takeshi."

The tall boy merely put a hand on Honey's head. Tamaki looked like he wanted to say something, but Kyouya beat him to it. "President Yachiru. Have you settled your spar?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah. I think that'll be all for today," she said, upbeat yet distracted. She waved a hand vaguely. "Let's get to cleaning up, then!"

[o0o]~[o0o]~[o0o]

When Yachiru got home she noticed that Kenpachi's shoes were already by the doorway. She frowned briefly, taken aback. She had taken the four-thirty bus today, since club activities had ended early; Kenpachi had never arrived home earlier than her before. Perhaps he had come directly here from the school?

Yachiru skipped into the kitchen, humming. Ken-chan had come home early today. He was home early, and that was all that really mattered. After all, their conversations recently had been so detached. It was like she didn't really know Kenpachi anymore, or like he was drawing away from her. But why would he do that? He was all that she had left, after all.

Setting her bag on the table, Yachiru walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. As she poured herself a cup, the sound of running water reached her ears from the bathroom.

Kenpachi walked into the kitchen just as Yachiru finished wiping away the cookie crumbs she had left on the table. She washed the towel in the sink, itching to ask about Ukitake. As she was about to speak, though, Kenpachi said abruptly, "Unohana and I have been talking."

Yachiru wrung the water out of the towel, watched the drops fall into the sink, and slowly hung the towel up to dry, tingles running through her body as she braced for bad news. She looked out the kitchen window, washing her hands thoroughly as an excuse to not turn around. "What is it? Is Panda-chan alright?"

She could hear the frown in Kenpachi's voice. "Ukitake's fine." Yachiru bit her lip. Please let it not be about her. . . . "Unohana and I have been thinking, though. . . . Yachiru. You're too weak."

The words echoed in her head, and she spun around, world a blur. Unohana was the closest thing they had to a family counselor. If even Unohana had agreed- it must be a serious weakness. "Wh-"

"No; listen to me."

Yachiru fell silent, trembling hands balled into fists.

A flicker of emotion passed through Kenpachi's face, and after a silence, he turned toward the doorway. "Come with me."

Yachiru gritted her teeth and followed, determined to not show any possible sign of weakness. If she could show she was strong, then he'd have no other complaints, right?

They climbed the stairs in silence, then turned down the hall towards Yachiru's room. Yachiru hesitated. Did it matter where they talked? It couldn't be about her homework, she knew. Maybe she'd taken a course he didn't like. Or maybe it was about the Movie Club.

The door creaked open. She really needed to oil the hinges. "Um, Ken-chan-"

"I told you to listen," he growled, but not unkindly. He walked into her room, moving aside to let Yachiru survey her room.

The walls were bare, their pale pink paint glowing with the bright ambient light pouring in from the equally bare window. Where had her shades gone? The golden cloth she had painstakingly picked out two years ago? And where were her books? The shelves and her desk were painfully clean, their surfaces far too bright. The cushion on her chair had been taken off, and the wallet she had stashed underneath gone.

And in the center of the room Yachiru suspected wasn't hers anymore, Unohana sat calmly on the ground, legs crossed and a scarily serene smile on her face. Yachiru swallowed. Kenpachi had said something about Unohana helping him come to his decision, but-

"Yachiru, I know it must be hard for you to understand why we've come to this decision," Unohana began.

"Wait, what decision?" Yachiru blurted out. She looked wildly at Kenpachi, who pointedly ignored her gaze.

"Oh my, did Kenpachi not tell you yet?" She gave Kenpachi a disappointed smile. "Well then, I-"

"Why does it look like I'm not living here anymore?" Yachiru interrupted, forcing her voice to stay steady. She could feel her eyes growing warm, and willed herself to not cry. Crying was weakness, and she couldn't show weakness, even if they were intent on kicking her out.

The silence stretched for an unnaturally long time. Unohana gave Kenpachi a subtle yet prodding glance.

"It's getting too dangerous for a young girl to go to school and back on the bus alone," Kenpachi mumbled gruffly. "So, we've decided that you should move into the school dorms."

Before Yachiru could object, Unohana explained, "You'll be staying at school later because of extended club activities. Winter's approaching as well, so eventually by the time you get home, it'll already by dark-"

"I can protect myself!" Yachiru snapped. "I have my katana-"

Kenpachi crossed his arms and turned to give her a glare. "Even you can't win against a gun if you're taken by surprise."

As Yachiru sputtered and tried to come up with a sufficient rebuke, Unohana added smoothly, "Kenpachi has said that he will be working overtime quite often from now on. He's merely worried that something will happen to you, and he won't be able to reach you in time. However, if you're near the school, you'll have friends who can help."

Yachiru took a breath, staring hard at the ground. She wouldn't accept this! They had no right to order her around- she wasn't weak! She could protect herself; Kenpachi himself had trained her. If belief was as important as Kenpachi had often stressed, why didn't- no, why _couldn't_he just believe in her?

And they obviously didn't trust her, either. They didn't even speak a word of this until they'd already gone through with it. And they'd anticipated that she wouldn't comply. She breathed deeply. "Ken-chan, Re-chan, I-"

Her throat tightened, and Yachiru forced herself to stop. She needed fresh air; the room was cloying; she could feel tears coming. No- she couldn't cry. She wouldn't-

Yachiru spun around and ran.

**A/N: Chocomint3 here! XD I'm so excited~ Anyway, what did you guys think of the fight scene? It's our first time writing that kind of scene, so we hope we did an alright job. **

**Tangent: But one thing that disturbed me was that they smiled at each other while they were sparring... for practically the whole time... Honey especially seemed to be, ah, enjoying it... I had no say, didn't write much of that scene. Maybe Honey has a "I enjoy power/winning/controlling" side? Remember when he was being the tough guy and was extremely strict with his martial arts team? He must have had some part of him which enjoyed that, at least a bit, right? Just food for thought... heh. The more I think about it the more I think it's true. What do you guys think? I'll have to ask Sysyimi about it later too. (Just saying that my word has a lot of weight for this story, so if the idea grows on me... heh. I'll find a way- oh shoot, hi Sysyimi don't read this- okay fine... she read it...)  
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**Anyway, are there any scenes you guys would like to see in the future? More showtime for a character, maybe, or character interactions (pairings, friendships, whatever) you'd like to see? I personally think a sub-arc of some sort around Yachiru and the twins would be fun... fufufufu... but currently it's not in our arc outline. Heh.**

**Stay tuned!**

**With affection, Chocomint3!  
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